Handvatten voor het concretiseren van de informatiebehoefte : rapport voor Meetstrategie 2000+

Wie de taak krijgt om de informatiebehoefte over een watersysteem te concretiseren moet er rekening mee houden dat beleidsmakers en waterbeheerders niet altijd precies kunnen zeggen wat ze willen weten. Hoewel er de afgelopen jaren diverse stappen zijn gezet om de informatievoorziening binnen Rijkswaterstaat (RWS) soepeler te laten verlopen, is dit een punt dat extra aandacht kan vergen. Daarom wordt in dit rapport een aantal praktische hulpmiddelen beschreven die meer inzicht in de informatiebehoefte kunnen geven. Het rapport is gebaseerd op (1) psychologische kennis over denk- en beslissingsprocessen, (2) politicologische kennis over de wisselwerking tussen personen die een verschillend belang hebben (of menen te hebben), en (3) ervaringen die in een aantal RWS-projecten zijn opgedaan. De beschreven hulpmiddelen sluiten aan bij de methodiek van Meetstrategie 2000+ die is gericht op de innovatie van de natte meetsector. Hierbij wordt niet alleen gekeken naar de nieuwe technieken om informatie in te winnen, maar ook naar manieren om te bepalen welke informatie nu feitelijk noodzakelijk is en hoe die zo efficiënt mogelijk kan worden ingewonnen. Dit heeft geleid tot een analyse van de beoogde schakels tussen informatievragers (beleidsmakers, beheerders en projectleiders) en informatieleveranciers (meetvoorbereiders en gegevensverwerkers van meetdiensten)

Transition without conflict? Renewable energy initiatives in the dutch energy transition

In the context of the slowly progressing energy transition, a number of renewable energy initiatives have been emerging in the Netherlands. These initiatives represent alternatives to the dominant functioning of the energy system, and as such, may come into conflict with it. Transitions involve system destabilisation and conflict between the incumbent regime and the initiatives originating in niches. In order to assess the transformative potential of such initiatives, this paper addresses the question: what kind of conflicts and tensions arise from renewable energy initiatives, and what strategies do they develop to overcome or avoid them? Combined with a business model perspective, transition thinking enabled a better understanding of how the initiatives organise themselves, and where the points of friction with their institutional context emerge. We suggest that the instances of conflict may function as an indication for the state of the energy transition and the transformative potential impact of such initiatives. The instances discussed in this contribution relate to existing support schemes, technology choices, and the overall organisational networks of the emerging sector

De praktijk van duurzame landbouw : een overzicht van initiatieven en een analyse van lessen uit de praktijk

Bij de aanvang van het project zijn twee relevante vragen geformuleerd die in deze studie zijn onderzocht: Hoe kan op dit moment de stand van zaken rond de transitie naar een duurzame landbouw worden gekarakteriseerd? Welke lessen kunnen worden geleerd van de wijze waarop de planvorming en uitvoering van systeeminnovatieve praktijkprojecten verlopen? De inventarisatie van projecten heeft een gevarieerd overzicht van in totaal 117 projecten opgeleverd. De projecten zijn gespreid over verschillende schaalniveaus, diverse thema’s en er zijn diverse actoren bij de projecten betrokke

Leading from the Niche: Insights from a strategic dialogue of renewable energy cooperatives in the Netherlands

Renewable energy cooperatives envision and manifest an alternative way of organising within the energy system (and beyond). Yet, despite their growth, it is uncertain whether such initiatives are able to increase and deepen their impact, leading the transition to an environmentally sustainable and socially just energy system. This paper presents insights from a strategic dialogue co-organised with the Dutch national interest group of renewable energy cooperatives "ODE Decentraal". We used transition management as action research methodology to organise the dialogue to understand and support the transformative potential of the cooperative energy movement. The dialogue helped to clarify the challenges and possibilities for scaling energy cooperatives beyond the niche, supporting at the same time the participants to reflect, strategize and develop a shared transition agenda. This contribution presents and analyses our intervention and its impact, also specifically evaluating the potential of transition management to facilitate social learning processes, reflexivity and the development of strategic actions. Our intervention confirmed the hypothesis that actors in the niche often focus too much on the competition with the regime for individual goals, thereby failing to collectively strategize and engage with incumbent regimes in a systematic way

Adaptation to extreme weather: identifying different societal perspectives in the Netherlands

The intensity and occurrence of extreme weather events are expected to change with climate change. This change necessitates adaptive responses to extreme events, which need to take into account different societal perspectives, in order to be robust. In this paper, we explore the perspectives of different social actors in the Netherlands with respect to extreme weather events and ways to adapt to these events. The paper reports on a set of 41 interviews, using the repertory grid technique. The results were analyzed, to identify (a) the perspectives that stakeholders hold as most important for adaptation to extreme weather events; (b) the determinants of differences in perspectives. We find six different perspectives, all of which prioritize different adaptive actions. Producing robust adaptive responses which include different perspectives is therefore not a straightforward matter and is likely to result in win–lose situations. Further, differences in perspectives were not closely related to different sectors the interviewees belonged to. Thus, the traditional approach of involving different sectors to discuss and produce adaptation measures may be too limiting and needs to be supplemented to involving actors with different perspectives. The level of concern and level of information influenced the ways interviewees perceive adaptation priorities for extreme weather events. Participation in information events does not always result in perceived need to prepare for extreme events, something that adaptation communication needs to take into account

Stretching and challenging the boundaries of law: varieties of knowledge in biotechnologies regulation

The paper addresses the question of adaptation of existing regulatory frameworks in the face of innovation in biotechnologies, and specifically the roles played in this by various expert knowledge practices. We identify two overlapping ideal types of adaptation: first, the stretching and maintenance of a pre-existing legal framework, and second, a breaking of existing classifications and establishment of a novel regime. We approach this issue by focusing on varieties of regulatory knowledge which, contributing to and parting of political legitimacy, in principle enable the making of legally binding decisions about risks and benefits of technologies. We base the discussion around two case studies, one of animal biotechnology ethical regulation, the other of ‘advanced therapy’ medicinal product regulation, both in the context of European Union frameworks. Specifically, we explore the knowledge configurations constituting expert committees and other institutional formations of expert regulatory knowledge in their political context. We show that where sectoral and moral boundaries are challenged, different modes of regulatory knowledge beyond scientific forms – legal, procedural, moral, economic and industrial – can shape regulatory innovations either by maintenance of regimes through commensuration and stretching, or through differentiation and separation creating new frameworks. We conclude that establishing an essential techno-scientific difference between pre-existing and novel technologies does not in itself require new regulatory structures, and that the regulatory strategy that is followed will be determined by a combination of different forms of knowledge